Many of the blooms that have appeared in my recent postings for In a Vase on Monday are still the ones that are predominate in my mid October garden. The flower colors in the garden now are primarily pink and white, with an occasional pale blue of the ‘Endless Summer’ hydrangea to break the monotony. Actually I am clearly a pastel lover when it comes to flowers, so this October color palate should not be a surprise. I photographed this week’s arrangement on our front porch to take advantage of the natural light there.

The flowers that my oh-so-helpful Arranger put together this week include ‘Endless Summer’ hydrangea, Montauk and Becky shasta daisies, Camellia sasanqua ‘Our Linda,’ ‘Autumn Sweetheart’ and ‘Autumn Carnival’ Encore azaleas, and ‘Samantha’ lantana. The added greenery consists of a few sprigs of ‘Golden Mop’ chamaecyparis, and, alas, I have lost the tag on the lantana on the tray.

I think the views from the sides highlight the lovely variegated foliage of the ‘Samantha’ lantana and what a nice contribution it makes to the arrangement. ‘Samantha’ is considered an annual in our part of the country, so I can’t keep it going over the winter. Fortunately, I do have a reliable source for it next spring. I suspect you will be seeing it again from time to time.

The vase is a Waterford crystal candy container.

Please click on In a Vase on Monday to visit the delightful postings of Cathy, the originator of this meme, at Rambling in the Garden. Her weekly challenge gives us the opportunity to share what is in bloom in our garden.

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About johnvic8

John Viccellio retired after 24 years in the U. S. Navy and began to dig into gardening when he could finally land in one place. He completed the Master Gardener course in 1992 and has since designed and constructed two of his own gardens. He wrote a monthly garden column for ten years and has been a regular contributor to Carolina Gardener magazine. John published his first book, Guess What's in My Garden!, in 2014.
He lives in Stallings, NC with his wife, in close proximity to seven of his eight grandchildren.

Thanks, Julie. Most of my garden consists of raised beds of soil that I have “created.” So I would say that I have the classic “moist, well-drained soil” that (so it seems) most plants want. You can check out my soil recipe on one of my Pinterest boards. We also add aluminum sulfate around the hydrangea macrophyllas (which ‘Endless Summer’ is) to get the blue caste to the blossom. The color depends on the soil pH.

Your arranger does a wonderful job, John – the addition of the Lantana on the tray is a particularly nice touch. I’ll have to see if I can grow ‘Endless Summer’ here – I’ve seen it in the nursery but have been afraid that it needs more shade and more water than I have to offer.

Thanks, Kris. The farther north you are the more sun they can stand. Mine are in open shade a good part of the day, but still get a fair amount of sun. There are several in the series (Blushing Bride, Twist and Shout) that share characteristics. I may move Twist and Shout because I suspect it isn’t getting enough sun.

Is this the time of year for camellias with you John – or is this variety very different from the usual ones we have in the UK? It’s really refreshing to see the pale pastels of your vase after many autumnal vases, and there is some intriguing foliage too. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks, Cathy, for starting this meme. Our sasanqua camellias begin to bloom here in October and usually continue for several months until the japonica camellias start blooming in mid to late winter. Some years we can have camellias in bloom for the whole winter.

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